The
Heart of Rodeo
Rodeo
art plays the passion of the cowboy sport.
By Cathy Orr
Nothing
stands still in rodeo. It’s
a sport of explosive activity, one that challenges
the physical
and mental resources of man and beast. Horses and
bulls buck, cowboys ride, and clowns run and jump,
but beneath all that action is a feeling, a bond
between cowboys and clowns and livestock that gives
meaning to the death-defying rides and runs they
tackle. Can art capture that connection?
The
answer may lie in the eye of the beholder more
than in an
artist’s medium or technique, or
maybe it’s a combination, but what comes through
in rodeo art strikes chords of appreciation in both
artist and collector. There’s no doubt a respect
for the man who rides for his life for 8 seconds
or the clown who leaps a barrel just in time. If
rodeo has an edge, it’s the risk involved in
participating in it.
Rodeo
art captures moments on the edge of emotional intensity,
and we can feel that
in works such as
Arthur H. Norby’s Doin’ the Dance, as
a bucking bull closes in on the clown. And it’s
there as well in Wyoming sculptor Chris Navarro’s
intense Eight Second Rush. Sandie Witbeck’s
Out of the Chute draws the viewer into the heat of
the moment. Linda Ballantine Brown captures action
that is sometimes overlooked in her series of works
on clowns and pickup men.
Paul
Cameron Smith’s Grit and Gumption boils
the competition down to its essence, as does Rick
McCumber’s Tapped Off, a three-dimensional
tribute to the artistry of a well-executed bull ride....
Find
the rest of this exciting article and more in
the July/August 2005 issue of American Cowboy magazine...
|
|
Eight
Second Rush BY CHRIS NAVARRO. |
|
Blast
Off! BY CHARLES SCHRIDDE |
"Rodeo
art captures the moments on the edge of emotional
intensity..."
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